Just
about everyone enjoys playing some type of video game, and just about everyone
enjoys some type of music. When you put
the two together, some great things emerge.
We have come a long way from the 8 bit sounds of the classic games, to
full on orchestral arrangements.

Throughout
my videogame experience, I have learned that I may not have played all the
classics. I primarily have enjoyed
action games, but from what I have played, I think these are the videogames
with the best soundtracks. The following
are in no particular order.

Medal of Honor (Series)

This
series probably has some of the best music.
It also has to be the series that got me interested in videogame
soundtracks. While fighting on the heels
of Jimmy Paterson in the first Medal of Honor (1999), I was
mesmerized by the beautiful and empowering music of Michael Giacchino. That classic World War II sounding music was
hard to beat.

When
Christopher Lennertz took over after Giacchino, the series started to go downhill. The music wasn’t the same. It was still good, but not what it was. Anyone who followed the series later heard a
completely different sound by Ramin Djawadi.
It took some getting used to, but the new sound became incredible! Of course, Castle of Glass by Linkin Park
thrown into Medal
of Honor Warfighter was another great touch!

Halo (Series)

When
I first played the 2002 Game of the Year, I was instantly captivated by the
distinctive choir of the main menu. That
(now) iconic sound, matched with the inquisitive sounding string section,
really made this game interesting. Martin O’Donnell really took a
different approach in the way this game sounded.

When
the second Halo came out, the theme, “Halo Theme Mjolnir Mix”
became a classic on its own. As the
series progressed, the music seemed to drift away from what it was. The music almost became its own story
line. The iconic “Halo sound” seemed to
have drifted away, but the music itself remained top quality and very pleasing
to listen to outside of the game itself.

Call of Duty (Modern Warfare Games)

Now,
I specifically picked the Modern Warfare games out of the bunch for a reason. The original Call of Duty games that took
place in WWII had great music, but when Stephen Barton, Hans Zimmer, and Brian
Tyler got their hands on the Modern Warfare one, two, and three soundtracks
respectively, things changed. The mix of
Western guitar and Middle Eastern drums was done so well by each composer.

In
MW1, Stephen Barton’s music conveyed extreme suspense. Even the music that wasn’t made to sound suspenseful
gave me that edge-of-the-seat feeling. In
MWII, Hans Zimmer was able to carry over the suspense, but added a real touch
of emotion. The music during the White
House missions was so empowering. In
MW3, Brian Tyler’s sound was another emotional composition. The music had the feel of Barton’s, but with
the power of Zimmer’s. Aside from this
sentence, I am not going to say anything about the World at War, and the Black
Ops games; not worth it.

Uncharted (Series)

Talk
about a soundtrack. Greg Edmonson did a spectacular job
with the compositions. The recreated versions
of the main title for each game were very well done. I have always been a sucker for exotic drum
sounds, so having a videogame that started out with an exotic drum beat really
did it for me.

With
each track having a perfect blend of horns, strings, exotic drums, and other
non Western instruments, I really felt like I was in the locations set by each
game. The soundtracks have the perfect
blend of suspense, emotion, and power. Never
was there a point in the game where I felt the music was out of place.

Runner Ups

I
could go on into detail about plenty more games, but to give you guys a break
(if you are still reading), I’ll some up the rest briefly since the following
games are more “one hit wonders” with their respective soundtracks.

Heavy Rain

Normand Corbeil did a great job evoking emotion in this
soundtrack. If the storyline wasn’t
enough to make you depressed, the music was.

Super Mario Brothers

It’s iconic. I am sure
there are many people who can identify the classic Mario theme music,
even if he or she has not played the game extensively, if at all.

Grand Theft Auto, and
Saints Row (Series)

This may be cheating, but with each of these games having a
laundry list of well known music in the games, it has to be put on the
list. Sure the majority of the music
wasn’t made for the games, but the radio stations in game have a great
selection of music to listen to.

Civilization IV

The main title, Baba Yetu, created by Christopher
Tin is simply stunning. I really can’t
think of a more beautiful song for a video game.

Now,
as I said, these selections are based off of the games that I have played. There may be choices on this list that you
may not agree with, and others that you wish were on here. However, out of the games that I have played,
these take the win!